Effects of cohabitation on children and families

People are unaware of the negative effects that cohabitation has. Families living in these unions are more violent and more likely to divorce.

Cohabiting couples have less satisfaction than their married counterparts. Couples who just live together are five times more likely to break up than a married couple is (Heritage Foundation, 2013). Once a couple gets married they are still more likely to divorce if they cohabited beforehand. These couples also have less commitment since the back door is always opened, offering a way to get out at any time. This lack of commitment causes the couple to not work on their relationship. 

Since there is a higher chance of divorce in these unions children are more likely to experience the split of their parents. Two-thirds of these children will go through the breakup of their parents before they turn five. These children are more likely to have poor health and school performance, be abused, and live in poverty (Sheffield, 2012). 

One study showed that couples who cohabit have more destructive communication. They show more verbal aggression, are less supportive of one another, and they are more likely to avoid talking about problems and concerns (Cohan, 2002). 

Not only does cohabitation encourage couples to be less supportive of one another, they are also more isolated from the community and family. Once cause of this is the lack of commitment, but also the unclear social expectations, of how the parents and community are supposed to interact with the couple. Since the couples relationship is undefined so is their relationship with others. 

A traditional marriage is the safest place for women and children, and the most dangerous for children is when they are living with their mother and her boyfriend. Children are 20 times more likely to be abused when living with cohabiting biological parents, this increases to 33 times more likely when living with their mother and her boyfriend who is not the father. 

The mother is also more likely to be abused when living in a cohabiting union. Never married mothers are twice as likely to suffer domestic abuse from their partner (Fagan, 2004). 

Cohan, C. L., & Kleinbaum, S. (2002) Toward a greater understanding of the cohabitation effect: premarital cohabitation and marital communication. Journal of Marriage & Family, 64(1), 180-192. 

 Fagan, P. F., & Johnson, K. A. (2002). Marriage: the safest place for women and children. The Heritage Foundation.

Heritage Foundation. (2013). Cohabitation vs. marriage: how love’s choices shape life’s outcomes. Familyfacts.org

 Sheffield, R. (2012). One in four babies born to cohabitating women. The Heritage Foundation.